Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... is the second solo studio album by American rapper 2Pac. It was released on February 16, 1993, by Interscope Records and distributed by Atlantic Records (CD edition) and Restless Records (LP). The recording sessions took place at Starlight Sound Studio in Richmond, Echo Sound Studio in Los Angeles and Unique Recording Studios in New York.

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...
Studio album by 2Pac
Released	February 16, 1993 (1993-02-16)
Recorded	1992
Studio	Starlight Sound (Richmond, CA) Echo Sound (Los Angeles, CA) Unique Recording (New York, NY)
Genre	Hardcore hip-hop conscious hip hop political hip hop
Length	64:05
Label	TNT Interscope Atlantic
Producer	Atron Gregory (exec.) Akshun Big D the Impossible DJ Bobcat Digital Underground Laylaw Live Squad Special Ed Truman Jefferson
2Pac chronology
2Pacalypse Now (1991) Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... (1993) Thug Life, Volume I (1994)
Singles from Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z...
"Holler If Ya Hear Me" Released: February 4, 1993 "I Get Around" Released: June 10, 1993 "Keep Ya Head Up" Released: October 28, 1993 "Papa'z Song" Released: January 17, 1994

The album follows 2pac's success after starring in the movie Juice, yet includes his commentary on social issues and the then-vice president Dan Quayle, who criticized the rapper for his violent lyrics.^[1] Peaking at number 24 on the Billboard 200, this album saw more commercial success than its predecessor, and there are many noticeable differences in production. While 2Pac's first effort included a more underground or indie rap-oriented sound, this album was considered his breakout.

The album was supported with four singles: "Holler If Ya Hear Me", "I Get Around", "Keep Ya Head Up" and "Papa'z Song" with accompanying music videos.

In 1998 and 2003, the album was reissued through Amaru/Jive Records. In 2023, Interscope Records digitally reissued the album with six additional tracks subtitled 'Expanded Edition'.

Background

In early 1992, 2Pac started working on a 2Pacalypse Now follow-up album originally titled Black Starry Night, which was renamed into Troublesome 21 during the recording process. The project was set to be released in September 1992, however, it was rejected by Time Warner due to media outcry and political legislatures over the lyrics. Several songs recorded for Troublesome 21, including "Keep Ya Head Up", "I Get Around", "Strictly fo' My Niggas" and "The Streetz R Deathrow" were utilised for the new track listing.

The punctuated abbreviation of the word "nigga" in the album's title stands for "Never Ignorant in Getting Goals Accomplished", a backronym fabled by 2Pac.^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s	[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Q	3/5[6]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Select	[8]
The Source	[9]

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... received generally positive reviews from music critics. In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide book, Greg Tate saw 2Pac "comes with a sense of drive, and eruptive, dissident, dissonant fervour worthy of Fear of a Black Planet and AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted", and called it Shakur's "best constructed and most coherent album, and it's also his most militantly political".^[7] AllMusic's Marisa Brown concluded: "though the production sometimes suffers, especially in the middle of the album, where it's utterly forgettable, the record shows a continually developing MC, with increasingly complex lyrical themes, well on his way to becoming nearly unstoppable".^[3]

Melody Maker called the album "an adventure into life on the streets of America", delivered through raps that "drip with the sweat of hardcore funk". Eric Berman of The Source wrote: "a combination of '60s black political thought and '90s urban reality, 2Pac is not afraid to speak his mind ... [balancing] the gangsta tendencies of street life with insightful revelations".^[9] Jonathan Gold of Los Angeles Times found the production accomplished and 2Pac's raps "sort of entertaining" but regarded him as "a gifted mimic" with "no discernible style of his own" and "not an especially deep thinker".^[5] Ian McCann of Q wrote that the album "found 2Pac feted by Hollywood and Ice Cube no longer an influence but a guest. Bitter, more distant, it offers the legendary "5 Deadly Venomz", "Keep Ya Head Up" and, ominously, "Something 2 Die 4", on which 2Pac's ma warns him if he can't find something to live for, he should find something worth dying for".^[6]

In his Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s book, Robert Christgau singled out "Keep Ya Head Up" as the album's only worthy track.^[4]

Commercial performance

Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z... debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200 and number four on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling 38,000 units in its first week.^[10] On September 24, 1993, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States, and on April 19, 1995, it received the RIAA platinum certification for sales of over one million copies in the US alone.^[11] On April 14, 2007, the album achieved silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 60,000 units in the United Kingdom.

The second single off of the album, "I Get Around", which features his D.U. band-mates Shock G and Money-B, peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's third single, "Keep Ya Head Up", which features Dave Hollister, made it to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both "I Get Around" and "Keep Ya Head Up" were certified platinum by the RIAA on March 31, 2021. The fourth and final single from Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..., "Papa'z Song", which features Mopreme Shakur, reached number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100.

After 2Pac's death in 1996, the album made it to the US Catalog Albums, peaking at number two.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Holler If Ya Hear Me" (featuring Live Squad)	Tupac Shakur Randy Walker Norman Whitfield Barrett Strong	Stretch	4:38
2.	"Pac's Theme (Interlude)"	Shakur Buddy Guy Junior Wells	The Underground Railroad	1:56
3.	"Point the Finga"	Shakur Deon Evans	Big D the Impossible	4:25
4.	"Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)"	Shakur Evans Curtis Mayfield	Big D the Impossible	2:43
5.	"Last Wordz" (featuring Ice Cube and Ice-T)	Shakur Tracy Marrow O'Shea Jackson Bobby Ervin	DJ Bobcat	3:36
6.	"Souljah's Revenge"	Shakur Ervin	DJ Bobcat	3:16
7.	"Peep Game" (featuring Deadly Threat)	Shakur Corey Lloyd Brown Ervin	DJ Bobcat	4:28
8.	"Strugglin'" (featuring Live Squad)	Shakur R. Walker Christopher Walker	Live Squad	3:33
9.	"Guess Who's Back"	Shakur Edward Archer Ronald Williams	Special Ed Akshun	3:06
10.	"Representin' 93"	Shakur Truman Jefferson Jake Carter Joe Sayles Kevin Scott Dwight Wyatt James Brown Bobby Byrd	Truman Jefferson	3:34
11.	"Keep Ya Head Up" (featuring Dave Hollister)	Shakur Daryl Anderson Roger Troutman	DJ Daryl	4:22
12.	"Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z..."	Shakur Larry Goodman	Laylaw	5:55
13.	"The Streetz R Deathrow"	Shakur R. Walker Barry White Smead Hudman	Stretch	3:26
14.	"I Get Around" (featuring Digital Underground)	Shakur Gregory Jacobs Ronald Brooks R. Troutman Larry Troutman Shirley Murdock	The D-Flow Production Squad	4:19
15.	"Papa'z Song" (featuring Wycked)	Shakur Evans Joe Sample Will Jennings	Big D the Impossible	5:25
16.	"5 Deadly Venomz" (featuring Treach, Apache, and Live Squad)	Shakur Anthony Criss Anthony Peaks R. Walker C. Walker	Stretch	5:13
Total length:				64:05

2023 expanded edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Holler If Ya Hear Me (New York Stretch Mix)"	Shakur R. Walker Whitfield Strong	Stretch	3:46
18.	"Keep Ya Head Up (Madukey Remix)"	Shakur Anderson R. Troutman Stan Vincent	DJ Daryl Bryant "Moe Doe" Johnson (add.) Lea Reis (add.)	4:18
19.	"I Get Around (Remix)" (featuring Digital Underground)	Shakur Jacobs Brooks R. Troutman L. Troutman Murdock	The D-Flow Production Squad DJ Battlecat (add.) Howard Johnson (add.) Khris Kellow (add.) Paul Arnold (add.)	6:04
20.	"Papa'z Song (Vibe Tribe Remix)" (featuring Wycked and Poppi)	Shakur Evans Sample Jennings	Big D the Impossible Duane Nettlesbey (add.) Norman "Slam" Whitfield, Jr. (add.)	5:16
21.	"Flex" (featuring Live Squad)	T. Shakur Live Squad Clarke	Stretch	4:16
22.	"Let's Get It On" (featuring Heavy D, Notorious B.I.G., Grand Puba, and Spunk Bigga)	T. Shakur Dwight Myers Christopher Wallace Maxwell Dixon Anthony Blagmon William Morris Michael Robinson	William Morris	4:05

Sample credits

• Track 1 contains a sample from "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, as recorded by Roger Troutman.
• Track 2 contains samples from "Tennessee", as recorded by Arrested Development, and "Snatch It Back and Hold It", written by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells.
• Track 5 contains a sample from "Holy Ghost", written by Henderson Thigpen, James Banks, and Eddie Marion, as recorded by the Bar-Kays.
• Track 6 contains a sample from "Hallelujah I Love Her So".
• Track 7 contains a sample from "Don't Change Your Love", written and recorded by Curtis Mayfield.
• Track 10 contains a sample from "This One's for You", as recorded by Joe Public.
• Track 11 contains a sample from "Be Alright", written and recorded by Roger Troutman.
• Track 13 contains a sample from "You're the One I Need", written by Barry White and Smead Hudman, as recorded by Barry White.
• Track 14 contains a sample from "Computer Love", as recorded by Zapp.
• Track 15 contains a sample from "Soul Shadows", written by Joe Sample and Will Jennings, as recorded by Bill Withers.

Personnel

• Tupac "2Pac" Shakur — vocals, co-producer
• Randy "Stretch" Walker — vocals (tracks: 1, 8, 16), producer (tracks: 1, 8, 13, 16)
• Christopher "Majesty" Walker — vocals (tracks: 1, 8, 16), producer (track 8)
• O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson — vocals (track 5)
• Tracy "Ice-T" Marrow — vocals (track 5)
• Corey "Deadly Threat" Brown — vocals (track 7)
• David "The Black Angel" Hollister — vocals (track 11)
• Pacific Heights — backing vocals (track 12)
• Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs — vocals & producer (track 14)
• Ronald "Money-B" Brooks — vocals (track 14)
• Maurice "Mopreme" Shakur — vocals (track 15)
• Poppi — vocals (track 15)
• Anthony "Treach" Criss — vocals (track 16)
• Anthony "Apache" Peaks — vocals (track 16)
• David "DJ Fuze" Elliot — drum programming (track 14)
• Stan Franks — guitar (track 15)
• Deon "Big D the Impossible" Evans — producer (tracks: 3, 4, 15)
• Bobby "DJ Bobcat" Ervin — producer (tracks: 5–7)
• Edward "Special Ed" Archer — producer (track 9)
• Ronald "Akshun" Williams — producer (track 9)
• Truman Jefferson — producer (track 10)
• Daryl L. "D.J. Daryl" Anderson — producer (track 11)
• Larry "Laylaw" Goodman — producer (track 12)
• Bob Morse — recording, mixing
• Darrin Harris — recording
• Mike Calderon — recording
• Atron Gregory — executive producer
• Eric Altenburger — art direction, design
• Jeffrey Newbury — photography
• Lisa Smith-Putnam — coordinator
• Leslie Gerard-Smith — coordinator
• Tom Whalley — A&R

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993) Peak position US Billboard 200[12] 24 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[13] 4 Chart (1996) Position US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)[14] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1993) Position US Billboard 200[15] 94 US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[16] 13 Chart (1994) Position US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[17] 79

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[18]	Gold	7,500‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[11]	Platinum	1,639,584[20]
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.